Free Republic

DAVENPORT, Calif. - The state acquired five miles of beaches and rugged coastline in Santa Cruz County on Friday, bringing public ownership to one of the longest stretches of private beachfront property in Northern California. The state Public Works Board voted to accept 407 beachfront acres of Coast Dairies Ranch, which consists of 6,845 acres of redwood forests, artichoke fields and rolling hills northwest of Santa Cruz. The beaches, including Panther Beach, Bonny Doon Beach and Davenport Bluffs, will become part of a new state park that will be opened to the public and patrolled by rangers over the next...

Private lands spur a public fight Struggle for turf mounts as state growth surges By Jim Wasserman ASSOCIATED PRESS March 21, 2004 PESCADERO – Tourists Mark and Dawn Kemp of Denver never thought such rural quiet was possible on a Pacific coastline just 20 miles from the hustle of Silicon Valley. "I can't believe that we aren't seeing hotels and commercial growth scooping all this up," said Mark Kemp. The two visitors, marveling at miles of uncluttered oceanfront, didn't know about a small, powerful network of nonprofit land trusts, government agencies and foundations that have bought thousands of acres of...

Half Moon Bay farmer Aldo Giusti says he's given up farming a 100-acre field for lack of water. Water rights fight By Nicole A. Freeling-Half Moon Bay Review--Photos by Mark Jordan Since the Civil War, the fields surrounding the Johnston Ranch have been kept green in the summer by two old sets of wooden planks dropped into Arroyo Leon to form reservoirs. But this year, under an edict to protect endangered salmon, the dams remain open - and instead of leafy rows of mustard greens and brussels sprouts, there are acres of mostly unplanted dirt. The California Department of...